Drug-carrying latices for prolonged release of drugs

Dichlorophene was used as a model drug. Drug-carrying latex particles were prepared by soap-free emulsion copolymerization of dichlorophene acrylate with some hydrophilic methacrylate comonomers. The comonomers used affected not only the structure and colloidal stability of particles, but also the drug-activity of particles. Preliminary study of the drug activity revealed that highly hydrophilic latex particles were very stable and too inactive to be engulfed by amoebae and kill them. On the contrary, less hydrophilic particles carrying a large amount of drug can be an effective device to release drugs at a moderate rate to fight against extracelluar targets such as parasites.     

First thermally responsive supramolecular polymer based on glycosylated amino acid

In materials science, a dynamic property sensitive to an environmental change (heat, light, electric current, pH, and other chemical or physical changes) is indispensable for intelligent materials. Such organic materials, however, are very limited even in conventional polymers. This paper clearly demonstrates that, regardless of the low molecular weight, a glycosylated amino acid derivative newly screened by a combinatorial method forms a macroscopic supramolecular hydrogel that reversibly swells or shrinks in response to the external temperature. Using the unique thermal response of the present hydrogel, we carried out the controlled release of DNA and the perfect removal of bisphenol A from the polluted water. Recently, advanced supramolecular polymers, in which monomers are noncovalently connected, are expected to be highly advantageous over traditional polymers because of their tunable and recyclable characteristics. The present result newly confers a dynamic feature on the supramolecular polymers, which is desirable for the sophisticated application in many fields.     

First artificial receptors and chemosensors toward phosphorylated peptide in aqueous solution

The first fluorescent chemosensors toward a native phosphorylated peptide are successfully synthesized. Dinuclear zinc(II)-dipicolylamine-based anthracene (1, 2) can selectively recognize and sense phosphorylated species with an increase in the fluorescence intensity. We also demonstrated that these artificial receptors fluorometrically detect a phosphorylated peptide with high affinity (>107 M-1) in aqueous solution.     

Superhydrophobic perpendicular nanopin film by the bottom-up process

We first fabricated the superhydrophobic film with a water contact angle of 178 degrees based on a perpendicular nanopin fractal structure by a bottom-up process. Until now, only materials with an original water contact angle larger than 90 degrees , which is classified as hydrophobicity, could be used to fabricate the superhydrophobic film (>170 degrees ) according to the possible fractal structure by a top-down process. Now, in this work, a water contact angle of about 178 degrees can be achieved using a lauric acid-coated film with an original contact angle of 75 degrees , which is classified as hydrophilicity, based on an ideal fractal structure for the superhydrophobic surface which is fabricated by the nanosize pin with 6.5 nm diameter.     

Protonation-induced structural change of lyotropic liquid crystals in oley- and alkyldimethylamine oxides/water systems

Lyotropic phase behavior of the nonionic and the half-ionized oleyldimethylamine oxide (OlDMAO)/water systems was investigated using polarized light microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. Nonionic OlDMAO formed isotropic micellar solution, nematic, hexagonal, cubic, and lamellar liquid crystalline phases as the surfactant concentration increased. In contrast, half-ionized OlDMAO (i.e., 1:1 mixture of the nonionic and the protonated species) had a greater tendency to form bilayer structures, and the phase diagram became quite similar to those of double-chained ionic surfactants rather than single-chained ones, despite the introduction of positive charges to the nonionic one. The preference of the bilayer structures in the half-ionized OlDMAO was interpreted in terms of the dimers stabilized by the hydrogen bond between the nonionic and protonated species. For alkyldimethylamine oxides with a saturated hydrocarbon chain (CnDMAO, chain length: n = 14, 16, and 18), the phase sequence of lyotropic liquid crystals was hardly affected by the protonation, but an elongation of the cylinders of the hexagonal phase was observed for the half-ionized C14DMAO. Consequently, it can be considered that the dominant bilayer formation of the half-ionized OlDMAO is attributed to the combined effect of the hydrogen-bonded dimer formation and the cis-double-bond configuration of the alkyl chain.     

Determination of meropenem by capillary electrophoresis using direct injection of serum

Concentration determination of meropenem, a carbapenem antibiotic, using a capillary electrophoresis method by direct injection of serum samples without any pretreatment is described herein. Sodium tetraborate (25 mM)-sodium hydroxide (0.1 M) containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (90 mM) is used as a run buffer (pH 10.0). Meropenem is detected at its absorption maximum at 297 nm. Migration time of meropenem is approximately 7.2 min, and the detection limit of the assay is 2.0 mg/L at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.0. The relative standard deviations of intra- and interassay accuracies are 3.43-8.87% and 4.28-8.54%, respectively, at a nominal concentration of 6.3-100.0 mg/L, and their recovery rates are 94-111% and 92-105%, respectively.     

Rate of spontaneous deactivation of styryl and α-methylstyryl carbanions

The deactivation of α-methylstyryl and styryl carbanions followed by spectral change and titration was studied kinetically. First-order rate constants were obtained for the deactivation of oligo-α-methylstyryl lithium, disodium, and dipotassium in tetrahydrofuran and of polystyryl potassium in varying degrees of polymerization in benzene that contained a small amount of tetrahydrofuran and n-hexane. It was observed that the addition of cryptate [222] exerts a significant effect on the system of oligo-α-methylstyryl disodium in tetrahydrofuran. The effect of dilution, degree of polymerization of the polymer, and counterions on the rate of deactivation of carbanions was discussed.     

PtBr2-catalyzed consecutive enyne metathesis-aromatization of 1-(1-methoxy-but-3-enyl)-2-(1-alkynyl)benzenes: dual role of the Pt catalyst

1,7-Enynes 1, connected through an aromatic ring and bearing a leaving methoxy group at the 4-position, underwent the PtBr(2)-catalyzed enyne metathesis followed by aromatization in one pot to afford vinyl naphthalenes 3 in good to acceptable yields. The cyclobutene intermediate 11a and another intermediate 2a were isolated, indicating that PtBr(2) acts as a dual role catalyst: (1) as a transition metal catalyst, it induces the enyne metathesis to produce 11a starting from 1a, and (2) as a Lewis acid catalyst, it facilitates elimination of MeOH from 2a to give the aromatized product 3a.     

Effect of mono-CDNP substitution of lysine residues on the redox reaction of cytochrome c electrostatically adsorbed on a mercaptoheptanoic acid modified Au(111) surface

The effect of charge-inverting modification of single surface lysine residue on the electron transfer (ET) reaction of horse heart cytochrome c (cyt c) is examined for 12 different types of mono-4-chloro-2,5-dinitrobenzoic acid substituted cyt c (mCDNPc) adsorbed on a Au(111) electrode modified with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 7-mercapto-heptanoic acid (MHA). A negative shift in the redox potential by 10-35 mV as compared to that of native cyt c and a monolayer coverage in the range of 13-17 pmol cm(-2) are observed for electroactive mCDNPc's. The magnitude of the decrease in the ET rate constant (k(et)) of mCDNPc's compared with that of native cyt c depends on the position of the CDNP substitution. For mCDNPc's in which the modified lysine residue is outside of the interaction domain of cyt c with the SAM, the ratio of the k(et) of mCDNPc to that of native cyt c is correlated to the change in the dipole moment vector of cyt c due to the CDNP modification. This correlation suggests that the dipole moment of cyt c determines its orientation of adsorption on the SAM of MHA and significantly affects the rate of the ET. The CDNP modification of lysine residues at the interaction domain significantly decreases the rate, demonstrating the importance of the local charge environment in determining the rate of ET.     

Normal and second excimers in macromolecules—II: Poly(1-methoxy-4-vinylnaphthalene) in polystyrene solid solution

Normal and second excimer formation has been examined for poly(1-methoxy-4-vinylnaphthalane) (PMVN) in polystyrene solid films as a function of measurement temperature from 420 to 77 K and film casting temperature between 369 and 303 K. It became clear that the conformation of the second excimer forming site is different from that of the normal excimer forming site. The difference in energy between the most stable conformation and the excimer forming site is 2.0 kcal/mol for the normal excimer and less than 1 kcal/mol for the second excimer. Moreover the temperature dependence of the second excimer to monomer intensity ratio is found to give information about T_γ (γ dispersion temperature) of the host polystyrene films, below which the motion of phenyl rings is restricted.